A note about New Years: I reserve the opinion that they essentially always suck, are subpar and anticlimactic. Like I said, they remain on the scale of standardly shitty but a few good ones really shine through: the one where I had strep throat and scarlet fever, the one where a car ran over my phone and, most recently, the one where at age 20 I was grounded and punished by being forced to attend a 4-year-olds crazy hat party with my parents.

Although, with my 20 years of (clearly) unparalleled wisdom and insight I have come to realise New Year’s Eve doesn’t necessarily preface the year you’re going to have. Neither does New Year’s Day.

My mum has this weird superstitious tradition of always eating black-eyed peas on January 1st. I think it’s an American thing. Anyway, we’re in Italy and she couldn’t find her special beans at any of the fancy bodegas- so I reminded her that we’ve had some pretty shitty years when we have eaten the beans. She agreed and we’re probably going to eat leftover pizza tomorrow instead.

So, to end it on a cynical note, it doesn’t matter if you eat the beans, New Year’s Eve is overhyped and resolutions are just glorified to-do lists. You don’t have to beat yourself up over not going to the gym 5 days a week or cutting back on your screen time.

Regardless, I hope your 2018 is wonderful. I mean, Trump got elected this year. It’s only up from here, right? RIGHT?!!

It’s almost midnight here, my whole family is asleep and the glittery Melbourne lights are dotting the skyline beautifully. I always forget how uniquely cool this city is when I’m away- and how freaking freezing it is too. I THOUGHT IT WAS COLD WHEN I LEFT HOME. Going out for dinner now entails me putting on everything I own and then adding a super unflattering pom-pom beanie. Not on fleek.

For those of you who don’t know, my fam bam and I came down here for the RMIT open day. After I graduated last year I was accepted into their Fashion Merchandising course but being from QLD, it’s a pretty big move. I’m a little more convinced after today but I just really don’t know, man. Money and blogging and friends and about a million other things need to be considered. Sigh. But I’m vlogging what I can so you’ll see that soon and I’ll keep you updated. Anyways- it’s been a big day and now dad’s snoring. Goodnight- so much love. xx

Wearing: Cheap Monday sweater, jeans c/o Rusty Australia, boots c/o Justa Local Store.
I never thought I could fall for a city like I fell for San Francisco. It is such a melting pot of culture, diversity, creativity- there’s everyone and everything all in the same place. Needless to say I took a lot of photos- you can already see some #sanfranspam on my Instagram- so be prepared. One downside about travelling, though, is packing- I only have two pairs of shoes and have been outfit repeating like there’s no tomorrow. Forgive me. The good news is that it’s only a few days until I’m reunited with my Macbook charger, meaning I can finally edit the seemingly endless amount of video I’ve taken while I’ve been here. I miss you guys.

So I’m pretty much moving to SF. One day. Or tomorrow. Either one. How has everyone been? I apologize if you’ve emailed and I haven’t replied, as you know things have been insane! I’m finally reunited with technology now, though, so drop me an email at viewsofnow@gmail.com. Much love. xx

I never got the chance to talk about my mini-trip to Brisbane- mostly because within the next few days I was off to Sydney, and the two trips seemed to roll into one. Basically, the family and I stayed in the city for a few nights just because. And it was wonderful. For something different, I’m coming at y’all with a mini hotel review.

We stayed at the Meriton Serviced Apartments on the 75th floor. The view was awesome, and the wall-sized windows made it so much better. It’s no Four Seasons, as the decor was pretty basic, but it made for a really nice stay. Plus a heated pool and a gym- not that I’d ever use it. I’d definitely stay again.

Location- Pop Coffee, Brisbane

After walking past the astro-turf, white picket fence and neon pot-plants, I had to go in to Pop Coffee. And I pretty much stayed there for the remainder of my meals for the next 3 days. The acai bowls were seriously delicious, and I can say the same for the juices and chais. Three of my favourite things.

Location- GoMA, Brisbane

I won’t go into too much detail, since I’ve written a Shellys post about it, but Cai Guo-Qiang’s Falling Back to Earth exhibit was incredible. We’d learnt about him earlier in our school art class and it was so surreal to see his work in person. If you can, go and see it. Seriously.

And that wraps it up- some of the highlights of the little trip. Let me know what you think, and look forward to an outfit post soon! xo